Thursday, December 15, 2005

I called in sick because, for the first time in my life, I actually *lost conciousness* as a result of a combination of nausea, standing up too fast, and general ookiness.

Passing out is an interesting experience. First come the black spots in front of the eyes and a feeling like the world is moving in new and strange ways. Then comes the feeling that it's absolutely necessary that you get horizontal *right now*. When you do, there's nothing at all for a few seconds (I wasn't out for very long), then a return to the floor moving unpleasantly, compounded with a nasty stinky cold sweat. And retching. And the shakes.

As I shoved the chair behind me and sagged to the floor, I remember thinking quite clearly two things simultaneously: "This is how my patients feel" and "I don't want to fall over like my sister did and hit my head on something."

Twenty minutes later, I was feeling fine, if a bit tired. So I went back to bed and slept for four hours. Then I went out and got some Sprite and Gatorade, rehydrated, ate a little something that stayed down (wonder of wonders!), and went back to bed.

In four days I've lost four pounds. No, the skin on my hands isn't tenting any longer, and my eyes aren't sunken.

The strangest thing is this: in between bouts of nausea, I have cravings for tomatoes, asparagus, corn, and honeydew melon. That's all. The normal sick foods like crackers and toast have no appeal.

Later I'll go out to the grocery store and stock up on cravings foods. Maybe I'll get a couple of cans of vegetarian vegetable soup. At this rate, my cholesterol will be down to 130 and I'll weigh that much by March.